Earl Spencer Was Ready To Give Prince Harry A Home At Diana’s Family Estate — But Harry Had Other Plans
Earl Spencer was reportedly prepared to offer Prince Harry and Meghan Markle a home at Althorp, the 13,000-acre Northamptonshire estate where Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, grew up and is buried.
However, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are not expected to move to the historic Spencer estate when they return to the UK. Instead, the couple are understood to have chosen a property in the Cotswolds as their British base.
The offer would have carried deep personal significance. Althorp has been the Spencer family home for more than 500 years, and Harry has remained close to his uncle, Charles Spencer, since he and Meghan stepped down as senior working royals in 2020.
Harry has also continued visiting Althorp in recent years. Last month, he reportedly spent several days there with Meghan and their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, in what was described as a particularly happy family stay.
Photographs shared by Meghan showed the family enjoying the estate. Harry and Archie were pictured walking along a tree-lined avenue carrying bouquets believed to have been taken to Diana’s grave, while another image showed Harry playing with Lilibet beside a pool as Meghan swam nearby.
Those photographs prompted speculation that the Sussexes could eventually make Althorp their UK home.
Royal biographer Tina Brown even wrote that it was widely believed Earl Spencer would offer the couple a house on the vast estate.
But a source close to Earl Spencer has now rejected that suggestion, making it clear that while the Earl would have welcomed such a request, Harry had already made his own arrangements.
“If Harry had asked his uncle for a property at Althorp, he would have done all he could to find him somewhere suitable,” the source said. “But he [Harry] has made his own plans.”
The source also claimed that Earl Spencer himself was unaware of how close Harry and Meghan were to relocating to Britain.
According to the source, the Earl knew Harry wanted to return to the UK eventually, but did not realise the move was imminent. He is believed to have first learned of the plans when reports emerged in the newspapers last Thursday.
Attention has instead turned to the Cotswolds, where Meghan is believed to have visited two schools while Harry was attending an Invictus Games event in July. There has also been speculation that the Sussexes could move into a property owned by a celebrity in the area.
The decision is particularly notable given the Spencer family’s previous attempts to provide a home for Diana. Following the breakdown of her marriage to then-Prince Charles, Earl Spencer offered his sister the use of the 16th-century Wormleighton Manor in Warwickshire.
Diana ultimately declined.
Now, decades later, her son has reportedly been offered a potential home within the same family estate — but, just as Diana once did, Harry appears to have chosen a different path.